Tuesday letters to the editor

Published 7:00 pm, Monday, December 18, 2006

Mad

To the editor:

Im steaming mad and very sad right now. People in this "beautiful" city seem to think that its all right to throw out kittens and puppies like so much garbage. I am fostering  reluctantly  a kitten that was abandoned in my neighborhood and made her way to my elderly neighbors doorstep.

My neighbor is kind-hearted and loves cats, so she fed the baby. But, she is also recovering from hip surgery and having this kitten dart underfoot whenever the front door opened was dangerous for her. It was also clear that the baby wouldnt survive the cold nights for very long, as she is only about 10 weeks old.

There is no way that I want, need, or can afford another cat. And there was no way that my husband and I could leave that little baby to die. So we made an isolation area and took her in. I found the money in my budget to take her to the vet for all the necessary checks, shots, etc. And Ive posted ads everywhere online and in stores hoping that well find her a good home. Im not going to give her to the first person who asks. They have to give a vet reference and the vet has to give me a positive report.

My situation is hard for me, and Im not alone. My vet, Dr. Butler, saw another client yesterday who had found a box beside the road Sunday night. He would have driven by, but a tiny head popped out of the box as he approached. So he stopped, and inside were 3 kittens. Out of some nearby bushes came Momma cat. Clearly, these beautiful animals had also been thrown away. The kind man took mother and kittens home, took them to the vet, and is also now trying to find homes for this "garbage." I wish him luck.

Personally, I will not take my little charge to the dog pound. I know what would happen to her. However, if people are going to be so uncaring and irresponsible as to let their pets run loose and breed, and they cant be bothered to find homes for the offspring, throwing them out is not a good option. Taking them to animal control is a poor choice, but its better than throwing them out to starve or get run over or die of some horrible disease after months of trying to scratch out an existence. People who do abandon animals, if caught, should be prosecuted and punished harshly. As far as I know, the powers-that-be in Midland dont think that its necessary to enforce animal cruelty luck. And without enforcement, this scenario will continue to play out hundreds of times a year.

People need to wake up and realize how rotten people in our "beautiful" city can be when you scratch the surface. And something needs to be done about it.

KATHY LENTZ

Midland

The talk of the parade

To the editor:

The write-up of the Coleman Christmas Parade was very nice by Mónica Guzmán. However she failed to mention the grand marshals were the Wilkie family, who span 103 years of service to the Coleman Community. The second most talked about item in the parade was the limo provided by the Ware-Smith-Woolever Funeral Directors for the Coleman Ministerial pastors, who were being honored in the parade. We wish to thank Scott Ware for the generosity, which allowed us to not only ride in style but in comfort. Thank you to one of their employees, Donald Studebaker, for being the driver. Last, but by no means least, a big thank you goes to Roxy Smith for her many hours of hard work to put this annual event on.